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This position paper builds on three of our earlier publications on the same subject (Jenkins & Leung 2014; Leung, Lewkowicz & Jenkins 2016; Jenkins & Leung 2017), as well as a number of conference papers we have given both jointly and individually. However, what we have not done up to this point is to propose alternatives to the large-scale standardized English tests administered by the major international examination boards, of which we have been so critical, despite the fact that we have been discussing other possibilities among ourselves for several years. The opportunity to publish a position paper on English language assessment therefore provided an ideal opportunity to present our alternatives, and this we do in the final part of the paper.

With global attention currently focused on the challenge of providing Education for All (UNESCO 2000), we must ensure that the language of teaching and learning remains a topic on the agenda towards making sure that the education being provided is effective. This is therefore a critical time to review medium of instruction debates, and to reassess what empirical evidence exists to guide policymaking that is both appropriate and achievable. Contributing to this endeavour, this paper argues for the approximate replication of two key studies. The first is Afolayan (1976), a widely-cited study conducted in Ife, Nigeria to test the effectiveness of teaching children in the mother tongue for six years of primary education. We argue that the frequency with which the success of this study is cited, without due attention paid to the details of its methodological procedure, may actually be detrimental to the success of other experiments, thus necessitating the careful replication of the original study. The second study is Siegel (1997b), one of the few studies that have been conducted to evaluate the impact of initial education in an English-based pidgin on the subsequent learning of English. We argue that there is an urgent need for replication of one of the few available studies of pidgins and creoles in education, given the prevalence of negative attitudes towards this category of languages.

The performance of polymer-based photovoltaic devices is limited by several factors like high band-gap and low charge-carrier mobility, to name a few. Thicker active-layers have high optical absorption but the transport of carriers in them is inefficient. Thus the optimal thickness of the active-layers has to be determined carefully. This conflict can be resolved using a three-dimensional (3D) microscale textured grating shaped solar cell geometry. The solar cells in this study were fabricated on photoresist gratings to give them 3D texture required for enhanced light absorption. Introduction of texturing has a significant effect on over all power conversion efficiency of the devices. Grating based solar cell having 2 micron pitch showed improved power conversion efficiency over the flat solar cell. In addition to favorable guiding of optical modes, the improvement in efficiency is accomplished by homogenous coverage of the spin-coated active layer, which is a challenging process for non-flat surfaces. Uniform thickness in this study was facilitated by the sufficiently high pitch and low height of the underlying photoresist gratings.

Formative assessment, particularly in the current form known as Assessment for Learning (AfL), has caught the attention of policymakers in many education jurisdictions. Diverse educational systems such as Hong Kong and Western Canada have publicly endorsed the principles and practice of AfL. In the United Kingdom, progressive devolution of state power from London has meant that Scotland and Wales now have national autonomy in education matters. In a dramatic reversal of policy, both of these “home” countries have in the past four years dismantled the heavily test-oriented schooling regime. Instead both the Welsh and Scottish administrations have adopted assessment policies that prioritize learning. This article discusses (1) the political and ideological trajectories that have supported the emergence of the for-learning assessment policies and (2) the fit (or lack of) between AfL principles and the prevailing espoused educational values in these two nations. The potential impact of these developments for assessment of English as an additional/second language (EAL) in schooling education will be discussed.

Summary

This chapter charts deteriorating state school provision for speakers of languages other than English in the years between 1984, when the first edition of Language in the British Isles was published, and 2002. It focusses primarily on England and it addresses the teaching of English as a second/additional language (ESL/EAL) as well as the teaching of minority ethnic languages. It begins with a brief characterisation of the approach to multilingualism epitomised in the 1985 Swann Report, and it then points to how this was altered by the processes associated with globalisation. The education system's involvement in these processes is outlined, particularly in terms of the impact on pupils with a family knowledge of other languages, and there is a critical discussion of the role that linguistic research played in these shifts. Government showed little interest in research on language diversity in the 1990s, but this did not deter researchers, and if government rediscovers multilingualism, it will be able to connect with a substantial knowledge base.

Education, language and ethnicity c.1970–85: The ‘Swann Report’

Education for All – ‘the Swann Report’ (DES 1985) – was the last major government report on linguistic and ethnic diversity in education, and it illustrates the discourses and political arrangements that were central to education policy in England at the time of the first edition of Language in the British Isles.

Power in educational policy making was distributed very differently from how it is today.

Summary

Introduction

Within the field of second language acquisition (SLA), there has been some sustained theoretical and methodological discussion on the different research approaches and paradigms. One of the recurring themes of this discussion turns to the differences between, broadly speaking, quantitative and interpretative approaches. The former is often associated with a tendency to work with psychological or psycholinguistic paradigms and statistical data analyses; the latter, the main focus of our attention here, is likely to draw on, inter alia, some form of qualitative methodology or discourse analysis (for a discussion, see Davis, 1995; Kumaravadivelu, 1999). This chapter sets out to discuss some of the issues concerned with the use of interactional discourse data germane to classroom-based SLA research. First, we will provide a brief account of the context of the data gathering that generated the theoretical and research issues that we wish to discuss in this chapter and highlight some of these issues with reference to some classroom data. It is our view that working with naturally occurring data is inevitably a messy enterprise, but one that many researchers find difficult to fully acknowledge or account for in the presentation of their research data. Noteworthy exceptions are, for instance, Bloome (1994); Candela (1999); Gutierrez, Rymes, and Larson (1995); and Kamberelis (2001). After that, we will attempt to relate our concerns and observations to wider debates on the epistemologies and practices of different research traditions and perspectives.

A great deal has happened in the study and understanding of multilingualism in England since it was last considered in ARAL (Reid 1985). To examine these changes, this review will concentrate on the dynamic and contested relationships among 1) educational policy, 2) academic discourse, and 3) everyday sociolinguistic practice. Our account is limited to England and to its newer heritage languages; due to limitations of space, it also does not provide any detailed discussion of particular languages. For fuller sociolinguistic discussion of thirty one of these, we refer the reader to Alladina and Edwards (1991), a major step forwards in the documentation of linguistic diversity in the British Isles which provides an idea of the wide but uneven spread of multilingualism across a range of institutional sites (including, for example, press and broadcasting as well as education).

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